


Be Sweet

by chronicAngel



Series: Leaves in the Summer [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, POV Third Person, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: Closing the door behind the group, she pours six cups of steaming green tea without asking and silently offers three of them to the family that might soon be hers, and then sips quietly on her own.





	Be Sweet

"Be sweet. He just lost his brother a few months ago," her mother says to her an hour before her prospective groom is due to arrive at their house, and for a moment she feels sympathy for the man she is being forced to marry. If one of her siblings died and she was then having a marriage arranged only a few short months later because she was forced into the role of clan heir (whether or not he wants it, she is not sure), she is not sure she would put up with it even as much as she already is. (Because really, she's known her whole life that she would probably have to marry a fellow member of the Uchiha clan, but she never envisioned her marriage being arranged with the stuffy, asshole son of the head of the clan.)

She is the one to answer the door when they do arrive, early, because her mother is still putting the finishing touches on dinner and she is not certain her father has ever answered the door in his life. (He certainly hasn't in hers.) "Ah, good evening, Tsuneyoshi-sama," she says, inclining her head in what might be a bow. He does not comment on it, instead smiling warmly at her as she opens the door wider for his entrance. She notices his wife and son a short distance behind him and tries not to let herself stare at Fugaku.

"Good evening, Mikoto-chan," he says, inviting himself in. She tries not to feel indignant at the familiar honorific, as though they are close. She supposes they're going to have to get close. "Happy birthday," he adds after a minute, looking around at their dining room like he's evaluating it for an inspection. _He is_ , she reminds herself.

Closing the door behind the group, she pours six cups of steaming green tea without asking and silently offers three of them to the family that might soon be hers, and then sips quietly on her own. It isn't long before her father saves her, entering the room with a bright grin and taking a seat beside his daughter before she has to try to make conversation with these people she's only even _seen_ once or twice in her life. Her father attends meetings as the elder son of Uchiha Izuna, but as a daughter, she was never allowed to go with him the way her brother was when they were younger. "Hello, Tsuneyoshi-san. I trust I haven't kept you waiting long?" He greets the clan head like a friend.

 _Informality is dangerous. You should treat your groom and his family respectfully_ , she recalls from long talks with her mother in the last week since this meeting was scheduled. If Tsuneyoshi notices, he certainly doesn't mind, smiling and responding with a, "Not at all. Your lovely daughter and I have hardly had a chance to exchange ten words." They laugh like it is a joke and she feels her cheeks heating in embarrassment. _Should I have said more? I thought you weren't supposed to speak much_... She doesn't have very much time to dwell on it, as her mother enters the room with a simple plate of kushiyaki and a warm smile.

"Shall we get to it?" She asks in a way that does not come across as impatient, resting the plate in the center of the table that lies between the two families and taking her seat on the other side of Mikoto's father.

"Of course." Tsuneyoshi plucks a skewer from the plate and takes a bite while Fugaku considers it and his wife just stares longingly. Mikoto can relate, her mouth watering at the thought of squid kushiyaki. _There will be food, but you must not eat. It is improper for a lady to eat in front of her potential husband_ , she recalls, and instead stares at her hands. "If your daughter's cooking is nearly as good as your wife's, I'm sure our children's marriage will be a prosperous one," he jokes, and her father laughs politely.

She tunes in and out of the conversation, only looking up when prompted to speak or answer a question. It is more often than she expected it to be, but still not very often. Fugaku has yet to have spoken a word the entire time they've been here, and the longer that is, the more she finds her eyes drifting curiously to him, almost dying to know his opinion on what is being said around them.

"Mikoto," her father says after what feels like an hour of just _sitting there_ , waiting to be spoken to. She looks up but does not say anything, which seems to be the correct response, as he wears a pleased smile when he continues, "Why don't you show Fugaku-san around the house while I talk with Tsuneyoshi-sama?" She does not want to, does not want to be spoken about when she is not there to hear what they are saying, but she smiles and nods and gracefully stands without pushing herself up. Fugaku exchanges a look with his father before scowling and standing himself.

When she slides open the doors to the yard, which she knows isn't exactly _the house_ but finds more bearable to lead him around, Hazuki stumbles forward from where her ear was clearly pressed against the shōji, listening in. "M-Mikoto-nee-chan!" She yelps, although it is not loud enough to disturb their parents in the dining room. Mikoto feels her cheeks heat up in embarrassment once more as Fugaku raises a curious brow, though there's the slightest hint of amusement to his face that puts her pounding heart at ease.

"Fugaku-sama," she starts, her smile strained. If he notices, he does not mention it. "This is my younger sister, Hazuki. She's _nosy_ ," she says, eyes sliding in annoyance toward the sixteen-year-old, who has the decency to look chastised.

Her sister bows her head forward in a silent apology and then lifts it, meeting Fugaku's eyes. "Hazuki-san," he acknowledges, and despite the rather rude greeting Mikoto catches the way her sister's cheeks light up and she rushes to dismiss herself, running off toward her bedroom. She notices Fugaku's eyebrows furrow, and then he glances over at her. "I should hope you aren't all this strange." She supposes it's meant as a joke, but the way it comes off is rude and she has to control her temper, forcing a smile once more and beginning to walk again without saying a word. He does not say anything about it, simply follows her quietly to the little garden her mother has been growing since she was a child.

"My mother started this garden when I was learning to walk," she tells him, checking for mud or dirt and then taking a seat on the grass at its edge. He does not follow suit, standing stiffly like a tower over her. (He was already so much taller than her when she was standing.) "I've never been very good at such things, but my brother loved to help her with it. He would probably kill me if he knew I was talking to you about it," she laughs, and then she notices his brow furrowing once more.

"Gardening is a woman's hobby. Your brother is right to be ashamed of it." She clenches her fists at her sides, gripping grass tightly between her fingers, but maintains her smile and offers him a forced _I suppose_.

After a long minute of her staring wistfully at the flowers (she wishes that she were a flower right now, so much more free) and him standing there, not showing any signs of making himself comfortable, she stands once more and leads him back to the house. She shows him the kitchen ( _My mother started teaching me to cook when I was twelve, but I can't say I'm very confident in my abilities_ , she joked, and rather than laughing he had just scowled at her) and the sitting room ( _That family portrait was done when my mother was still pregnant with Hazuki... I remember fighting against sitting still the whole time_ , she said fondly, and he simply stared at her). Eventually, running out of places to guide him through but not yet invited back to the table, she leads him to her bedroom, cheeks heating at the impropriety.

"This is, um.. my room," she says, forcing herself not to be shy. _You should be quiet, appealing, but not shy. Your future husband will want you to be confident, not some blushing Academy girl_. She repeats her mother's instructions in her head. Still, she can't help the blush on her cheeks as she gestures around. Her room is not empty, but it is certainly nothing grand. _Certainly nothing like what he is probably used to_ , she thinks, and she stares at her feet. She has a dresser made with dark wood tucked into one corner, her team photo and a vase of flowers from Yasu on its surface as well as a book that's still cracked open. Beside that is a bookshelf, filled with books, scrolls, and another picture, this time of herself with Hazuki and their cousins. Her cheeks heat up further as his eyes slide to her bed, and she is thankful she neatly made it this morning.

"It's tidy," he comments after a full minute, seemingly realizing that he is expected to say something. "Where did you get those flowers from?" He asks after a moment, but she doesn't think he genuinely wants to know so much as he is filling the silence out of an unsaid obligation.

She still responds, because it is what she is supposed to do and because it is easier to talk about her teammates than it is to talk about herself. "A few weeks ago was the anniversary of when my childhood genin squad was promoted to jōnin. We all got each other gifts." She picks up their team picture and smiles fondly at it, before holding it out to him and pointing at Yasu's grinning face. "This is Yasu. The flowers were from him."

Fugaku narrows his eyes at it for a second, taking in the details of her genin squad, and then scoffs. "What an idiotic practice."

She feels her eye twitch and her smile falter and knows she won't be able to contain her temper. "You are the most arrogant, _rude_ person I have ever met! Everything I've said to you about myself, you've scoffed at or insulted or shirked away as something _beneath you_! Whether or not we get married, I don't require your approval, Uchiha Fugaku!"

He looks genuinely taken aback, blinking at her in surprise. Immediately, she feels dread begin to swirl in the pit of her stomach, but before he can open his mouth to respond (not that it looked like he was going to any time soon, really) her bedroom door is knocked on and then opened.

"Papa says that their meeting is done," Hazuki says, eyes aimed pointedly at the floor. Mikoto supposes she is trying to avoid looking at Fugaku, and she will tease her about it later when she has cooled off from her outburst (and the inevitable subsequent anxiety that she has made a mistake in snapping at him). "Your wedding will be in September, when Uchiha-sama's youngest-- _younger_ son returns from his long mission in Kirigakure." Fugaku's scowl, which she is beginning to notice seems to be his default expression, deepens at the mention of the village. Mikoto clenches one fist at her side but has regained enough of her composure to fake a smile for her sister and politely inform her that she will be out in a minute. Fugaku brushes past her, seeming almost impatient to leave.


End file.
